Of course you also need to make sure you know whether enough customers even exist in the market you’re in. If you’re in San Diego real estate, only so many homes are on the market, and only a certain percentage of people who are looking for a home there exist.

Once you know those basic metrics, you want to know how well you’re converting now.

Of visitors to your site, how many people are becoming customers or clients?

What are they doing before they buy? A great many will be making some kind of email contact first, whether through signing up for your newsletter or sending a pre-sales question to support.

So first determine your conversion rate, truly nail it so that each traffic source converts within a predictable range. Test to make sure everything is working.

Then you’ll be ready to raise the conversion rate to your desired goal, and use that as a success benchmark.